


Clasped So Tight

by kashmir



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-24
Updated: 2007-02-24
Packaged: 2017-10-09 02:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kashmir/pseuds/kashmir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Izzie runs into someone she doesn't expect to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clasped So Tight

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Death Cab for Cutie's song 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark,' title taken from the same. Also inspired by last night's ep and my love of Denny. Beta-ed by [](http://arabella-hope.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://arabella-hope.livejournal.com/)**arabella_hope**, my own personal beta-queen.

It happened on a Thursday.

She'd overslept, then had gotten a run in her pantyhose and spilled her coffee everywhere while getting ready for work. Izzie sighed as she locked the door of her small but quaint house. She hated days like this. Then she got stuck in traffic on the way to the clinic because of an accident. Once she got downtown, she couldn't find any parking for about fifteen minutes. She finally admitted defeat and parked in a garage about a ten minute walk from the hospital.

Izzie got out, lugging her bags and purse and trying to balance her coffee on top of everything. She missed a call on her cell and swore as she took the elevator down to street level. Probably George wanting to get together for dinner or drinks that weekend. She blew her bangs out of her eye as she exited the garage and started down the street. She'd call him back later.

She was already thinking ahead to the meeting she had that day with the Chief about budgeting and a million other things she had to get done. Izzie had her Palm out and was trying to rearrange her schedule to see if she could squeeze George in when it happened. Thinking back on it, she never heard the calls to 'look out' or 'Stop miss.' She just stepped out, not looking, and stepped right into the path of a transit authority bus.

It didn't hurt, she realized as she laid there on the sidewalk, vision dimming as sirens screamed in the distance, the concerned voices and faces looming above her fading into static. Her last thought before everything went black was that George was going be _so_ pissed at her.

...

When she woke up, she was at Seattle Grace. She knew this, knew the hospital that she'd been a part of since she was intern like the back of her hand. But it was quiet, almost totally silent. Izzie was lying on a gurney and she wasn't in any pain. She started to pat herself down, feeling for IV's or tubes or bandages and found nothing but... a soft sweater, one she didn't think she'd had for years and a pair of jeans. She slowly sat up and looked around the trauma room. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she spun around. Her throat closed when she realized who stood leaning against the wall.

"D-denny?" she whispered, voice hoarse with emotion.

His mouth quirked in half a smile. …"Hey you." The rumble of his voice startled her, hearing the words fall from his lips when for the past nineteen years, that voice had only existed in her head.

She sat there in disbelief until it hit her. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

It would explain why the reflection looking back at her from the window to the hallway was that of her younger self, not the lined and slowly aging face that greeted her every morning lately. Izzie had read somewhere that when you died, you reverted back to when you were happiest. She knew without looking that she had on the aquamarine sweater that Denny had told her repeatedly was his favorite and her most comfortable pair of Lucky jeans. Clothes she hadn't worn since she was an intern. Clothes she hadn't worn since Denny.

Denny smiled, straightening up and walking towards her, closing the gap between them. He stopped right in front of her and she tilted her head back. She'd forgotten how tall he was. Denny nodded at her, his eyes shining and a bit damp. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and she could barely keep from closing her eyes and just sinking into that tiny touch.

"'Fraid so, sweetheart. Seems you got a bit distracted on the way to work and stepped out in front of a bus. Not your finest moment, Isobel Stevens." He looked pained for a minute. "It's still Stevens right?"

She nodded, covering his hand where it still rested on her cheek with her own. "Yeah. I uh, I never got married.. I mean, you kind of... No man ever made me feel... Like you did." He smiled and she grinned back. "But you didn't know that? Don't you... know everything or something when you're dead?"

Denny chuckled. "Some things, not everything. I knew you never left Seattle Grace." He looked around at the room and the hall beyond before focusing back on her face. "Could feel you from time to time."

Izzie smiled up at him. "I could feel you, too." Denny's chin wobbled a little and she tugged on his white tee shirt. "Come here. Dammit, I haven't seen you in nineteen years. The least you could do is kiss me."

He chuckled again at that and bent down, pressing his lips to hers firmly, cupping her face with his large hands. Hands that she'd missed, had at one time pictured holding their children, hands that she'd wanted to learn every inch of her body. She sighed into the kiss and he smiled against her lips. Pulling away, Denny kissed her forehead before he straightened.

"I missed you," she whispered, pressing her forehead into his chest. He ran a gentle hand down her back, fingers tangling in her hair.

"Me too, Iz. Me too," he whispered back. "Every damn day."

They stayed like that for a moment before Denny pulled back and tugged her up to stand. He laced their hands together and started to lead her out of the room. Izzie followed, holding his hand tight, marveling at how well their fingers fit.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Denny stopped to look at her, eyes bright. "Does it really matter?"

She paused before grinning and shaking her head. "Not really, no."

He smiled back as they kept walking towards a blinding light, until she was surrounded by nothing but light and love and warmth and Denny. Just her and Denny and forever.


End file.
